riGWORT FAMILY 199 



long, and many little leathery leaves less than half an 

 inch in length, grows in dry sand in the interior of the 

 peninsula, and has a fragrance suggestive of ripe fruit. 



Clinopodium coccineum. Flowers red, IV2 in. long, solitary 

 or clustered in axils of upper leaves. Stamens 4. Plants 

 shrubby, 1-3 ft. tall. Leaves small, leathery, sessile, entire, 

 usually broadened upward. Sandy soil. Blooming from 

 spring to fall. Fla. to Ala. 



Clinopodium Ashei. Flowers lavender, small, solitary in 

 leaf-axils. Plants shrubby, 4-20 in. tall, minutely hairy. 

 Leaves small, leathery, sessile, elliptic, but margins are re- 

 curved. In sand. Blooming in spring and summer. Fla. 

 peninsula. 



BiTTERMiNT (Genus Mesophaerum) 



Coarse plants of this genus crowd their tiny flowers 

 in dense clusters, which after the seeds ripen remain on 

 the dry stems. The corolla, barely one-fourth of an inch 

 long, is of peculiar form, as the lower lobe is dipper-shaped. 

 The toothed, stalked leaves are broadest near the base, and 

 are intensely bitter. 



Mesosphaerum rugosmn. Flowers small, white or purple, 

 in small, stalked heads from leaf-axils. Heads are sur- 

 rounded by bracts. Stamens 4. Plants 2-4 ft. tall. Leaves 

 1-4 in. long, tapering into leaf-stalk. Low grounds. Bloom- 

 ing in summer and fall. Fla. to N. C. and Texas. 



Mesosphaerum mutabile. Flowers in dense clusters form- 

 ing terminal raceme-like panicles. Stems 2-5 ft. tall. Leaves 

 1-3 in. long. Sandy soil. Blooming from spring to fall. Fla. 



FIGWORT FAMILY (Scrophulariaceae) 



Herbaceous plants. Flowers more or less irregularly 4-5-lobed. 

 Stamens 4 or 2. Fruit a capsule. 



The most beautiful Florida flowers of this family are 

 the rose-colored gerardias that bloom in low pinelands 

 in autumn. 



